Talk to People and Ask Them to Vote

A lot of times, when students go into the voting booth, they don't really know the candidates or remember any of the platforms. All the campaigning just blends together into a blur, and they vote for the only person they remember, or the only name they recognize.

Usually, nobody but the candidates themselves really cares very much about the outcome of the election or thinks about the school's "issues" as much as the candidates wish they would.

So it really doesn't take all that much to get votes.

All you need is for students to, first, remember you; second, remember but not dislike you; and third, go to the polls and vote. It's that simple.

People will remember and consider how you acted towards them personally far more than they'll care about your speech, your posters, your platform, or anything else. Don't underestimate the power of meeting and talking to people on a one-on-one basis.

In the voting booth, people will, for the most part, think about whether you were nice or snotty to them; whether your campaign was good and heartfelt, lackluster, or annoying; and whether they think you're going to be a good representative for the class or just someone on a personal power-trip.

It may not be fair, but such is life.

Don't make the mistake of thinking people are going to necessarily vote based on the criteria they should. Don't assume anyone will necessarily vote for the best candidate. Don't assume anyone even knows or cares who is the best candidate.

People usually vote for their friends -- it's true. But not necessarily their old friends. High school students usually vote for the candidate they liked best during the campaign.

Sure, best friends always vote for their best friends, and small cliques usually support the members of their own clique. But probably 80% of the voters are up for grabs. Most of them (if they vote at all) will think about what they've seen in the campaign and then vote for the person who left them with the best impression -- often, the only candidate who took the time to talk to them personally and ask them to vote.

Picture this scenario: you're walking down the hall, and you see two candidates. One is busy hanging posters, the other is hanging around with the students and chatting. The first one sees you but turns his/her back to you (he/she must think the posters are more important than the students), the other smiles and introduces him/herself, gives you a sticker, and asks you to please remember to vote. Which one would you prefer to support? Which one do you think will do a better job of representing the students?

How about this: you're in an elevator with two other students. One stares at his book or at the floor and pretends you're not there, the other simply says "hi." That's it. The elevator stops and you go your separate ways. You don't really give it much thought, but everything else being equal, which person do you like more? Which one would you rather see win?

It's tiny little interactions like these that get you votes. Believe it or not.

Remember, you don't have to get all the votes. It doesn't have to be unanimous. You just have to get one more vote than each one of your competitors. The more candidates you're running against (the more chances there are to split the votes), the fewer votes you need.

Even if the vast majority of the votes go to your opponents -- for example, out of 100 votes, if two of your opponents each get 33 votes (2/3 of the votes are NOT for you) and you get 34 votes (only just slightly over 1/3 of the votes) -- who wins?

Winning by one vote is as good as winning by a hundred.

Every vote you can get is important.

Remember, not everyone votes! The winning candidate is often simply the one who got the most people to go cast ballots!

People who you've encouraged to go vote will usually vote for you. You don't even have to say "vote for me." If you ask people merely to "please be sure to vote" or "please remember to make a choice" instead of saying "vote for me," it sounds better. It's more humble. It's more socially acceptable. Of course they know that you want them to vote only for you. But if you focus on the best interest of the class (letting the voters choose the best candidate) instead of selfishly promoting yourself, more students will respond to your request (cast a vote), and they'll most likely vote for you anyway because they appreciate your attitude.

Don't assume people will vote. You should ask them to.

If it's true at your school that most people don't care about elections, then this apathy is your biggest obstacle and your best friend. You'll be way ahead of the competition if you can put yourself in the shoes of a voter and realize that students need a reason to vote for you. The fact that they like you and want to support you is the easiest and most effective reason.

The best candidate doesn't always win! The one who campaigns the best (without being fake) and who gets the most people to vote does.

If you recognize that every single individual vote you can get is important, and you concentrate your energies on getting individual people to vote for you, you'll have a tremendous advantage over the candidates who think in terms of mass-marketing and believe that slick posters alone will turn into "everyone" voting for them.

In the voting booth, there is no "everyone," there are only individuals.

Use the campaign as an excuse to be friendly and talk to people. Let your classmates know that you're running and that you want to help improve the school. Push yourself to say hello to people and initiate conversations -- in hallways, in elevators, in cafeteria lunch lines -- anywhere and anytime you can. Running for election gives you something to talk about. It gives you a reason, an excuse to talk to people you usually don't get to.

They know you want something from them. You don't have to hit them over the head with it. Just relax and be friendly.

Don't turn your back to students in the hallways and hang more posters; hang around in the hallways and talk to more students!

It's all about people. Everything else is secondary.